How to Choose the Right Laptop for On-the-Go Creators?

So you are a creative professional or a content creator, but the type of work you do doesn't allow you to stay at your desk all day ─ perhaps you're a videographer or a photographer, a freelance graphic designer, work for a travel influencer, or are a content creator yourself. You need to be mobile and bring your work with you.

All creatives need computers that can help them edit images or videos or run other creative software. Until recently, most professional content creators opted for a desktop device. But as you are becoming more mobile, need to be more versatile, and your job or clients require fast results, waiting until you get back to the studio to see the results of your work and edit your files might just not be optimal.

A whole new category of laptop devices has been gaining popularity among creatives like yourself. So-called "creator laptops" are machines built with creative professionals in mind, meeting the characteristics and performance requirements of handling the kind of work you do while on the go.

But how to choose the right device for you? What are some characteristics of a great content creator laptop?

One reason why you are selecting a laptop over a desktop is so that you could slip it into your backpack and go. So you don't want a big, clunky device. Choose one that doesn't weigh too much, has a slim form factor, and has an appropriate screen size.

Selecting the weight for the laptop seems fairly straightforward. One would think that the lighter, the better. But it's important to remember that the more powerful the machine, the heavier the device will be. The battery also weighs, so the lighter, the less power your battery will carry. A rugged, sturdy shell that is often a key when on the go also weighs quite a bit.

The laptops for lighter creative work like graphic design or photo editing can still be very light while packing enough power and battery life. With heavier workloads comes the heavier weight of the laptop.

All that being said, aim for at most 2.5kgs in a very powerful machine, but optimally between 1.5 and 2kgs for a machine that can cover all your needs. Lighter machines are also available, but they may not meet your performance requirements or may achieve lighter weight by cutting down on the battery size and cooling, which is not optimal for a creator laptop.

In addition, the larger the screen size, the more the computer will weigh, so also take that into account when choosing your next laptop.

We recommend choosing a machine with between 14" and 16" screen size. Anything smaller might not be large enough to let you work comfortably, and anything larger may not be very portable and mobile.

It is important to mention that some machines come with a better screen-to-body ratio by implementing a thinner bezel, meaning that often the screen size will be larger than you would expect from the dimensions of the computer. Many ASUS laptops come with a size larger screen than usual for the same form factor, meaning that for example, a 16" screen is packed into a 15" body.

Working on the go very often translates into working away from an electrical outlet. A strong, powerful battery should be a very important consideration for creative pros who value mobility.

This is a key for creators like yourself because the applications you use burn off the power stored in the battery at a very fast pace. Achieving a full work day away from an outlet is much more difficult when running Adobe Photoshop or After Effects than Microsoft PowerPoint or Excel.

You will need to look up the battery life of the computer when choosing one. It would be great if the number was 8hrs or larger. But remember that this is based on a certain mode of operation, so you'll also want to look at the battery capacity for a more objective point of view. You'll want at least 63Wh. Better 75Wh. The best would be 90Wh.

As mentioned, however, battery weighs, so you'll need to strike a good balance between the mass of your laptop and the battery size.

Handling your workloads without a hitch requires a powerful machine. Creative software is very power-intensive, meaning you will need to run a lot of heavy processes in parallel.

Choosing the right setup to help you carry your load boils down to 4 components: processor (CPU), Graphic card (GPU), Memory (RAM), and Storage. We will try to give some simple directions, because understanding all the computer specs isn't easy, which is why we've written an article about choosing the right computer specs for creative professionals . Take a look!

When choosing the CPU, you will compare different options by analyzing their core number, thread count, and power. For each of these, in general, the higher, the more powerful.

To simplify these, two major CPU manufacturers, Intel and AMD, divided their offerings into tiers, with numbers indicating the level.

We would recommend Intel i5 or Ryzen 5 at the very least, but better if you opt for i7 or Ryzen 7. Higher options would give you a ton of power reserve that may come useful when handling a really heavy workload, but this comes with a higher cost. An Intel i7 or Ryzen 7 should be powerful enough to handle quite heavy work already.

When it comes to GPU, the first thing to know is that there are 2 types: integrated and discrete (a.k.a. dedicated). You will want to go for the latter. Similarly to the CPU manufacturers, NVidia, the leading GPU manufacturer, divides its offering into tiers, and again, the higher number, the more powerful the card. But here, things get a little bit trickier, because there are two product lines offered in creator laptops: GTX and RTX. We would suggest choosing the RTX option as it supports ray tracing, which can help you deliver amazing creative results.

RAM (Random Access Memory) is another spec you should pay attention to. This will determine how smoothly you can switch between different tasks. Once again, the larger the number, the better. But for creative professionals, 8GB will be the bare minimum, but we would recommend 16GB. You may also find out if the laptop you are considering comes with additional slots that will enable expansion in the future.

Finally, storage. Files you are generating, e.g. videos of RAW pictures are quite heavy, and you can run out of storage really quickly. Your hard drive is the component responsible for storing your files. There are two types of hard drives: SSD and HDD. Sometimes you will also come across the hybrid of the two, called HHD. Our recommendation would be to opt for an SSD option. These drives allow you to boot up your computer faster and access all your files quicker. The larger the number, the better, but 512GB is the bare minimum. This spec is probably the least important of all the mentioned, because whatever you pick, you will likely soon need an external drive to store your files, or you will be forced to delete older ones to make space for the new work. But the more storage your computer has, the less frequently you will need to do that.

Hardly ever one open window is all you need while working. Very often, you will need to have a good couple of applications open. Switching between them constantly isn't optimal, especially when one is a reference, and the other is what you're working on. When adjusting colors, for example, seeing references and your file side-by-side is crucial.

You will need a laptop that comes with multitasking in mind.

ASUS offers innovative laptops with dual screens, made with creators in mind. The Zenbook Pro Duo 15 OLED, for instance, comes with a second touchscreen for you to use in parallel with your main one. Whether you choose to display the reference materials there or increase the working canvas in Photoshop or Illustrator by moving the controls to the ScreenPad™, you are sure to achieve more without constantly switching between various windows.

Some Zenbooks from ASUS also come with a smaller second screen in place of a touchpad, which can also come very useful to control secondary apps or display small reference images while working on your files.

To maximize the effectiveness of multitasking, we install ScreenXpert 3 on all new laptops. This app can help you manage your displays’ real estate by enabling you to quickly switch between various layouts, as well as app groups. A convenient taskbar also lets you quickly change the settings (e.g. adjust brightness, turn on or off your camera or microphone, switch between layouts, or navigate apps and tasks), saving you time.

For the models that do not come with the ScreenPad™, we have a solution too. All new ASUS laptops for creatives come with GlideX preinstalled. This app allows you to use your mobile devices (e.g. smartphone or tablet) as an external screen. Whether you choose to do so wirelessly or via a wired connection, the second display extends your viewing space and allows you to multitask more smoothly.

Finally, if color accuracy and high display quality are of utmost importance to you, you may want to invest in a portable screen like the ProArt portable display. These are indeed another thing to carry, but they are much more mobile than a regular monitor. These may just prove to be the perfect solution for multitasking in a café.

For the photographers and graphic designers or videographers out there that often travel for work, and need a light, thin device with plenty of computing power and a vibrant display, but do not need to handle very heavy edits (e.g. 3D design, large-format video, etc.), we recommend the laptops in the Vivobook Pro lineup . These youthful devices will fit into any backpack and help you edit on the go.

When you need more computing power for heavier work, Zenbook Pro products are what you should be looking for. Elegant, thin, and light, these professional machines carry plenty of additional benefits. The star among them is perhaps the Zenbook Pro Duo, which is an amazing solution for professional creators who would like to enable desktop-like workflows while mobile.

Finally, for those who need to handle very heavy creative work like editing large format images and videos, movies, 3D designs, or architectural designs, the ProArt Studiobook products will be perfect! As powerful as laptops can be, tough and durable, and elegant, these devices were designed with top-notch creatives in mind. ProArt Studiobook comes equipped with an ASUS Dial, which can help you handle your creative software conveniently. With ProArt, you can ensure you will have plenty of computing power for years to come.